Gousto's 700% Growth Drives IT Transformation with Cloudflare SASE
Facing significant growth and increased operational demands, Gousto has revamped its IT strategy by implementing Cloudflare's SASE platform, addressing critical security and agility challenges that arose from its outdated systems.
Key Facts
- Gousto's 700% customer growth in 2024 highlights a booming demand for meal kits, indicating market potential.
- Transitioning to Cloudflare's SASE improved agility, cutting site connection time to 20 minutes, enhancing competitiveness.
- Legacy systems exposed Gousto to security risks, revealing vulnerabilities that could hinder financial stability.
- Enhanced user experience reduced support tickets significantly, indicating improved employee productivity and morale.
- Gousto's shift towards tech aspirations signals strategic evolution, aiming for AI leadership in the meal delivery sector.
Summary
Summary
Gousto, a UK-based meal kit delivery company, faced significant challenges with its legacy network and security model as it rapidly expanded. By implementing Cloudflare's secure access service edge (SASE) platform, Gousto modernized its network infrastructure, resulting in a seamless user experience and improved security. The company achieved rapid deployment capabilities, connecting new sites in approximately 20 minutes.
Background
Gousto operates in the meal kit delivery industry, providing customers with the ability to select recipes and receive precisely measured ingredients at their doorsteps. The company employs around 1,300 staff, including 650 device-based knowledge workers and a large factory workforce. Before deploying Cloudflare, Gousto relied on a traditional Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) network and a Fortinet VPN, which limited their agility and security.
Challenge
Gousto needed to address the limitations of its legacy network, which posed significant security risks and hindered operational efficiency. The existing system was slow, difficult to manage, and lacked visibility into user activity, making it challenging to implement necessary changes in a timely manner.
Solution
Gousto adopted Cloudflare One, which replaced their legacy VPLS network and VPN with a unified SASE platform. Cloudflare WAN provided direct control over site-to-site connectivity and enabled rapid network changes without third-party delays. Additionally, Cloudflare Access streamlined user access to internal applications, enhancing performance and security through identity-based policies.
Results
The deployment of Cloudflare's solutions allowed Gousto to connect new international sites in about 20 minutes, significantly improving their operational efficiency. The transition to a zero trust access model enabled approximately 650 end users to experience a more seamless connection to internal applications, resulting in a notable reduction in end user complaints and support tickets.
Key Insights
Organizations facing rapid growth should prioritize modernizing their network infrastructure to enhance security and operational efficiency. Implementing a zero trust model can significantly improve user experience and reduce the burden on IT support teams.
Customer Testimonial
“The performance is a lot better with Cloudflare. People were excited and glad we moved to it. They keep saying ‘This is so much better.’”
— Oliver Knights, Infrastructure & Security Engineering Manager
Entities Mentioned
Companies
Products
Technologies
People
Key Concepts
Definitions
- SASE
- Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a network architecture that combines networking and security functions into a single cloud-based service.
- zero trust
- Zero trust is a security model that requires strict identity verification for every person and device trying to access resources on a private network.
- IPsec
- Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a suite of protocols used to secure Internet Protocol (IP) communications by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet.
- VPLS
- Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) is a technology that allows the connection of multiple sites over a shared network as if they were on the same local area network.
- WAF
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a security system that monitors and filters HTTP traffic to and from a web application.
Use Cases
- →meal kit delivery service
- →remote work support
- →network modernization
- →identity and access management
- →zero trust implementation
- →cloud-based security solutions
Frequently Asked Questions
What challenges did Gousto face with their previous network?
Gousto's legacy network was slow, rigid, and lacked visibility, which posed significant security risks. They struggled with change management and had a poor user experience due to their outdated VPN solution.
How did Cloudflare help Gousto improve their network?
Cloudflare provided Gousto with a unified SASE platform that replaced their legacy VPLS and VPN, enabling zero trust access and allowing for rapid deployment of new connections, significantly enhancing their network security and user experience.
What is the significance of zero trust for Gousto?
Zero trust is crucial for Gousto as it enhances their security posture by enforcing identity-based policies and providing granular visibility across user traffic. This approach helps protect sensitive data and resources as they expand their operations.
What role does Focus Group play in Gousto's modernization efforts?
Focus Group acts as a Managed Services Provider, assisting Gousto's IT team in building a detailed identity and access management architecture and developing a strategy for implementing zero trust principles effectively.
What future innovations is Gousto considering with Cloudflare?
Gousto plans to strengthen their zero trust maturity and evaluate new features like BGP over IPsec for Cloudflare WAN, as well as explore the potential of using Cloudflare's WAF to enhance their web application security.